Warrior Quest Sword Guide: Upgrades, Abilities and Tips

Why Your Blade Matters in Warrior Quest

Pick the Warrior in Wizard of the North's dark-fantasy dungeon crawler and you start with a sword and armor. How you grow that Warrior Quest sword decides how quickly goblins, wolves and the Orc Boss go down when talking fails. Dice decide what works, so better damage dice and well-timed abilities make each successful hit count.

The full game launches on November 13, 2026. The free demo covers Act I, takes about an hour, and your save carries over to the full release. Any gear you build up there comes with you. You can grab the demo or wishlist the game on the Warrior Quest Steam store page.

Upgrading Your Sword at the Crowhollow Forge

Crowhollow is your home base. The blacksmith is the first stop for weapon upgrades, and you can upgrade the same sword more than once if you have the gold.

The Townmaster points you to the forge before your first trip to the Goblin Den. Take that advice. A stronger first swing makes the fights against goblins and wolves in the den much safer.

Ways to fund upgrades:

• Sell gear you won't use. The blacksmith buys back equipment, so trade in armor you've replaced and put the gold into your weapon.
• Bank at the Black Rook Treasury. The treasury pays interest when you complete a dungeon. Since Demo Update 1.9b, that interest pays out once per dungeon.
• Talk your way into coin. A frightened goblin or a merchant caught in a snare will often pay you instead of fighting. On the road to the coast, you can make the trapped merchant promise a reward before you cut him down.
• Balance the budget. Potions and antidotes at the market aren't cheap. Don't spend every coin on the sword and then walk into a poison-heavy dungeon with no cure.

The Wandering Merchant's Blade

After you clear the Goblin Den, a crooked-wheeled wagon shows up in Crowhollow. The merchant on it trades in strange artifacts, and he especially wants the pale "mystery orb" you can pick up in the den. Hand over the orb and you can walk away with a keen-edged weapon. The merchant says it gives your words more weight with goblins, which ties your sword to the game's diplomacy system as well as to combat.

The damage change is large. An already-upgraded sword can roll 1d8 + strength + 1, while the merchant's blade rolls 2d8 + strength. That's twice the damage dice. Once you have it, take it to the forge and upgrade it again.

Tip: Pick up the pale orb in the Goblin Den even if you don't know what it does yet. The wandering merchant will want it.

Sword Abilities and Combat Tricks

Your sword hits hardest when you pair it with the Warrior's abilities and pick the right moment to use them:

Image: Steam / Wizard of the North

• Focus Strike makes your next attack deal 250% damage. Use it right before a turn when you expect to land a big hit, such as against a boss with a lot of health.
• Victorious Slash has had its own finishing strike animation since Demo Update 1.11a.
• Well-timed attacks can set up critical hits. Some effects grant 100% critical chance, and any crit chance above that is added to your crit damage instead. Don't waste stacked crit bonuses on weak enemies.
• Rerolls let you retry a failed check. Click Reroll or press Backspace, and if you accept the original result, you keep the reroll. You earn one for every five tavern rumors you hear at the Ample Dwarf. Every ten rumors also raises an attribute, which can mean more strength for your damage rolls.

Strength adds directly to sword damage, so watch your attribute scores. Since Demo Update 1.6, odd scores below 10 give the correct modifier. A strength of 9 gives −1, so even one point can change your damage.

Companions can also finish fights for you. A recruited goblin can land the final blow on a boss. Companions carry their own gold and items, including gifts you give them. If you find a weapon you don't want, giving it to an ally is often more useful than selling it.

Shopping for Weapons Without Guesswork

Recent demo patches make it easier to compare gear before you spend:

• Since Demo Update 1.11a, the traveling salesman's item cards use rarity colors and symbols.
• Since Demo Update 1.4, you can hover over a loot name to see its description and stats before you take it.
• Since Demo Update 1.11, the forge screen no longer shifts the town layout when you select an upgrade.

Before you buy anything, compare its damage dice against your current sword. Gear that adds charisma or strength can help in both fights and conversations, so value it accordingly.

When to Keep the Sword Sheathed

Warrior Quest doesn't force you to fight. You can get through much of the game peacefully, and violence, cruelty and deception all have consequences. Killing a creature that has just agreed to cooperate can count as a dishonorable kill. Demo Update 1.10 fixed cases where fights after conversations were wrongly marked as dishonorable, so the game now tracks this more accurately.

Try threatening an enemy with your blade before you swing it. In Demo Update 1.3, the developer changed the Orc Boss so that threats earn standing with him. A frightened goblin may hand over gold or point you to its boss, and you won't have to spend a potion to get that result.